UPDATE – Oct. 14, 2019
$7,565!
We are so thankful for everyone who has supported Robin Hassler Thompson‘s birthday fundraiser for STAC. With your help, she surpassed her goal and raised $7,565 in support of human trafficking survivors and those who are vulnerable in the Big Bend! Your gifts will help provide direct assistance to sex and labor trafficking survivors and teach people throughout our region how to recognize, report and prevent human trafficking. THANK YOU! This campaign will be open for online giving through the end of this month for anyone who would still like to donate. Read Robin’s original post below.
Dear friends,
I turn 60 this month, and I am filled with so many questions: How did this happen so fast and what does it all mean? I’m gaining a sense of this by reflecting on where I am NOW. This NOW is full in ways I never could have imagined — like making jewelry and seeing people wearing it! Another surprise is that I helped start a nonprofit almost five years ago and still direct it: Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC). STAC educates the community about human trafficking and works directly with people who have been trafficked or who are at risk.
Looking back, I see one of the threads of my life has been straightforward and common to many: What can we do to alleviate the suffering of others? I’m fortunate to have had a great education, including law school. It was there that I saw my law degree came with a responsibility to be an advocate and, put simply, to help make the world a better place.
STAC is a passion for me because of the economic and social injustices that surround us. People are exploiting and enslaving others out of greed, and it happens in every community. We have to do something to stop it. On this milestone birthday, I’m asking YOU to join me and to support STAC. My goal is to get at least 60 friends to give $100 (or a gift of your choice) so we can raise $6,000. Your gift of ANY amount will go toward educating thousands of people every year to recognize, report and prevent human trafficking and to support survivors on the path to freedom and a better place in life.
There is a direct link between my anti-human trafficking advocacy and the violence against women advocacy I have done and still do. It is all connected to seeing inequality, injustice or entitlement and saying, “No, this does not have to be.” Before STAC, I worked mostly at the state and national levels. Now my work has to be local. I LOVE working in partnership with generous and amazing people and organizations here in the Big Bend of Florida. Every month, STAC leads a different community training, and every month, we assist people who have been trafficked. Sometimes I feel like falling at the feet of my colleagues and the whole STAC board and team. They are so giving and so talented, and with your support, we can make an even greater difference.
We are on this path together and have linked arms in many ways. Thank you for all of the support, learning, growing, insights and fun. And THANK YOU for joining me in celebrating this milestone by doing something good together for our community!
Much love,
Robin Hassler Thompson, JD, MA
Executive Director Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center
P.S. I’m asking 60 of my friends to give at least $100, but any amount will make a difference for trafficking survivors and those who are vulnerable. Go here to give online, where you can also designate a monthly, recurring gift, or send a check to: Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center, P.O. Box 13898, Tallahassee, FL 32317. Please write “Robin’s Birthday” in the memo line. Thank you!